Of Interest

Williams College President Adam Falk has joined Williams College with hundreds of other entities committing to the Paris climate accords following President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the international agreement to cut carbon emissions.

Falk signed on to the “We Are Still In” statement last week, joining more than 1,200 governors, mayors, businesses, investors and higher education leaders from across the U.S. who declared their intent to continue to ensure that the U.S. remains a global leader in reducing carbon emissions.

The “We Are Still In” statement calls the Trump administration’s announcement to withdraw from the Paris agreement one that “undermines a key pillar in the fight against climate change [and a move which is] out of step with what is happening in the United States.”

Falk said Williams’ commitment to addressing climate change, outlined in a set of initiatives developed and approved by the board of trustees in 2015, will continue as the campus community works toward achieving sustainable carbon neutrality by the end of 2020.

1) Instead of wasting time with virtue signalling, why doesn’t Falk do his job? Consider the example of the scores of students forced out of data sciency courses like STAT 201 and CSCI 135. These are great courses. But, precisely because of their quality and popularity, enrollment has been capped. It would be easy for Falk to do something about this, to authorize these departments to hire a visiting assistant professor or two to offer a few extra sections. The fact that he has failed to do so is evidence that he is prioritizing the wrong things as Williams president.

2) Is there any actual substance to this pledge? From the press release: “The landmark agreement succeeded where past attempts failed because it allowed each country to set its own emission reduction targets and adopt its own strategies for reaching them.” In other words, Williams could participate in this agreement even if it planned on doubling its emissions.

3) Is there a realistic plan for Williams to attain “carbon neutrality by the end of 2020?” Color me skeptical! Williams feeds and houses 2,000 people. That takes a lot of carbon! Anyone have links to the plan?

8 Responses to “Do Your Job”

Falk would prefer to wax poetic about national and international causes than be a good and fair leader of the college itself.

I can’t believe this guy is still in place. All rumors saying he would be forced out this year seem to have been mistaken.

I hope the capital campaign is suffering badly. That seems to be the only thing that would get the Trustees to fire this guy.

Clearly these weren’t enough to get him fired.
– Decrying, but not correcting the racial hoax
– Canceling conservative speakers while giving a full public endorsement to a visiting BLM leader
– Grossly mishandling several sexual assault cases
– Hiring his girlfriend to a 6-figure job

Of course the alumni fund machine totally ignores Falk’s record. When my class officers ask me for money, I say not until Falk is gone. I give the reasons if they ask. They have no idea what is happening, and the college is clearly hiding or minimizing these issues.

Forcing students out of foundation courses in the sciences seems deeply short-sighted, especially given the sequential nature of most of these topics (particularly chemistry and mathematics). Not sure I agree that CSCI 135 is one of these, but STAT 201 clearly is. Also this phenomenon seems to be increasingly commonplace at many LACs.

Shouldn’t it be obvious to the Trustees that turning the campus to the formally political puts at risk Williams’ greatest asset, namely the prospect of obtaining the highest quality student bodies feasible?

All good points but the capital campaign is going well so the odds of him departing against his will are slim and the odds of him being replaced by someone more focused on his job and not the standard litany of liberal causes is even slimmer. His personal indiscretions have had no impact.

Why can’t Falk tap into the sort of Hollywood money that went into the Ossoff campaign in the Georgia 6th CD? Democrats spend about $32 million on Ossoff and still he got beat. That sort of money would buy a lot of loan-free tuition packages for low- or middle-income Ephs.